SAS in conflict with its pilots - risk of strike

With only two days left until the collective agreements expire for SAS pilots, the pilot union chose to leave the negotiations on Tuesday.

The talks began on Monday and were scheduled to last for two weeks.

- We do not see any conditions for agreeing, the pilot union's Martin Lindgren told TT.

The background to the collapsed negotiations is a huge savings package called "SAS Forward" which the company presented in February.

The goal of the package is to save SEK 7.5 billion annually for five or six years.

Very far apart

But how the cuts will actually go, there is a great deal of disagreement, says savings economist Joakim Bornold. 

- SAS needs to cut costs and this also applies to salary costs, of course.

On the pay side, there are quite large reductions for the pilots, and it is clear that they are reluctant to do so, he says in SVT's Morgonstudion. 

The question many ask themselves, however, is how far SAS needs to go to save the company - and is the price for trying to keep it alive worth it?  

The savings economist Joakim Bornold gives his view in the video above.